Dodge Durango 5.7 Hemi Engine Failure

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I had an AAA Extended service contract after they tried for a couple of weeks to get out of it they paid for the replacement motor from Powertrain Products a rebuilder that addresses all known problems and gives an optional 4 year nofault warranty. The AAA weasels are almost as bad as MOPAR since there was less than a month on the contract when the engine went

We'll my nightmare with my Durango now continues with Promar Engines. After just 4 months in the truck the engine failed! Promar's warranty is not worth the paper it's printed on. The first words out of them when I called is it's not under warranty.

My engine was running badly right from Day 1. I took it into several mechanics including my local Dodge dealership several times. Just 4 months after the install I have a massive antifreeze loss with no leaks from the system. My mechanic found a blown head gasket! Promar Engines warranty was a complete joke. Any excuse at all not to cover repairs for their inferior workmanship. My local machine shop looked at the head gasket and said they are using inferior parts!

BS Reason #1 I was I didn't return the core in time. Complete garbage since they knew I'm in Canada and I had to drive the block over the border to ship as they wouldn't ship the return from Canada. I was in constant contact with them and they knew exactly then the block would ship. Not once did they say that I was late with shipping the block and warranty would not be covered.

BS Reason #2 was that the block overheated. Complete garbage again since it was a head gasket that failed due to their crappy workmanship and parts. Without any pics of the heat tabs they installed he said they were melted. Even if they were melted it was because of loss of coolant from the blown head gasket.

I have been in touch with another Durango owner from this message board that has also had problems with a ticking lifter from Promar. These guys are complete scammers. Warranty is non-existent.

I read through a lot of these posts, and there is one key factor causing almost all of these engine failures: valve springs. Daimler sourced out a lot of items overseas from China to get super cheap sensors, cheap weak plastic cowls and inferior valve springs, which affected mostly 03-04 Ram trucks and 04 Durangos (and some 2005s built in 2004 as they used up the engines with the problematic springs).

Look at it this way: the spring breaks thus not pushing up the valve. The valve slams into the piston head a few hundred or thousand times not letting it go all the way up, sometimes twisting the piston just a little with each contact. After a few hundred or thousand times, it twists or breaks the piston rod which then slams into the side of the block a few dozen times until it breaks through.

Those of us that have had these Durangos for a while and are enthusiasts are familiar with this problem, and recommend taking the still running Hemis (03-04 Rams and 04-05 Durangos) to the shop and replace the stock springs AND RETAINERS with some quality springs/retainers (like from COMP cam). Order some online and have a local shop install them (NOT A DEALERSHIP) since many times the parts that the shops/dealerships get are OEM factory or cheap overseas parts, and prone to failure just like the original parts were. Quality brands like COMPcam do not have these weaknesses as they are designed for heavier use, tracks, racecars, drag strips, and so on.

Well I joined the club today. my Durango made it 3 houses down the street then " Boom, Bang, clunk"" I now have a hole bigger than a softball in the side of the block 3rd cylinder back on the right. guess there is no need in crawling to Chrysler for help after reading the posts on here. I am amazed at how thin the block 5 inches above the oil pan. Anybody got a good block ?? hate to get rid of truck because it's still in great shape but I think here in Kentucky, its going to be quite pricey to find a short block.

I changed my plugs out last night and noticed that 3,5,7,6 & 8 were bad rusty. I was wondering where the water was coming from and figured it had to be as described above. I also noticed water in the oil fill cap which is directly under the cowl. The plugs were tricky to remove due to the rust so be careful and work them in and out until broken loose. I have had the Durango for 3 years now and have had no trouble at all from it other than all the door and window gaskets are deteriorating. Overall it is one of the best vehicles I have owned.

2013 dodge Durango 5.7 hemi sputtering...... with only 643 miles.......yes 643....! Chrysler won't do a thing about it......! SAID THATS JUST A HEMI.....! Hahahahaha SHAME ON THEM......! The government should tell them next time you need money dodge......fix the hemi 5.7 first! Or go back into bankruptcy like you should be..... or out of business.....! Run before you buy a dodge! Or I told you so!

Add my 2004 Durango to the list. We'll maintain, never raced.
Threw a rod doing less than 25 mph. About 85,000 miles ( aprox. 128000 km). If I known there was an issue maybe could avoided the pain and inconvenience. My Durango 5.2 1999 had double the mileage, no problems.
Obviously, not my driving or maintenance. The manufacture needs to take ownership of the problem, or risk future clients.

I recently purchased an 04 Durango limited with the 5.7hemi May of 2013, for $8K. It had 113K miles the guy told me he got the car from a dealer friend and it had a noise in the engine so he replaced it with a used engine with 109K miles. I was happy the guy was honest with me and said no problem checked it out it ran and drove perfect with lots of power. He was able to sell me a used car warranty (thank god). We drove it that summer and pulled our pop up which we used an 01' Blazer for in the past. This Durango pulled like a dream no problems. We had a rain storm on the way home on the one camping trip and I remember opening the hood at the gas station just to check the oil. I noticed a steady flow of water running onto the center of the engine, I even showed my wife saying that does not seem right but still we had no problems so I ignored it. Early December my wife went to start it in the morning and it sounded like a jack hammer. I made arrangements with the warranty co and had it towed to my local garage. They said a rod was through the block the warranty paid for a reman long block and we have it back running great I still get the water dripping on the engine and have tried to stop it with weather stripping but it still leaks were the windshield wipers go through. The garage said they seen no signs of water in the engine but I really think it was hydolocked. How else would rod break under no load?

2005 Dodge Magnum R/T 5.7 Hemi with 91,000 miles. Ran like a scalded cat for years - LOVE this car! Changed the oil religiously with synthetic. Interior/exterior are immaculate, relatively new Borla stainless cat-back exhaust, aftermarket wheels, and new Michelins.

Pulled up to store Sunday night - running fine. Went inside for 10 minutes. Came out to the car - tried to start engine and there was little or no engine compression as the starter spun really fast. Tried to start again and when it finally fired up it had a horrible miss and it sounded like a horrible metallic rattling sound. I immediately shut off the motor, opened the hood expecting to see a metal coat hanger wrapped up in the serpentine belt but everything externally on the motor was fine. No leaks. Nothing. Had it towed to the Dodge dealer. $500 later he says a valve seat dropped into #3 cylinder and destroyed the piston, cylinder and the head. They first quoted me $8,500 but have now dropped to $6,500 installed out the door for a Chrysler re-manufactured engine with a warranty.

After a rain storm on 4/15/14 I attempted to start my 2004 5.7L Hemi Durango and heard a horrid metal flying around type of noise. I did not attempt to start the vehicle again. I noticed small pieces of metal on the ground under the engine. Eventually I found a hole in the engine block. The vehicle was well maintained and the oil level was fine when I checked it on 4/15/14. It had 105,000 miles on it. I have found many similar complaints on safercar.gov. I called Chrysler (case # 24896456) and was told nothing can be done. I filed a complaint with NHTSA and the BBB.

I emailed Chrysler and here is their response.

"Thank you for contacting the Dodge Customer Assistance Center.

We are sorry to hear of the concern you have experienced with your
engine. After thoroughly reviewing your request and the files on this
matter, we respectfully concur with the decision rendered by our
Customer Service Representative.

We're sorry we cannot provide a more favorable reply.

Thank you again for your email. Should you require additional
assistance, or have any new information to provide, please reply to this
email message or call 1-800-4A-DODGE (1-800-423-6343).

Wow! I'm stunned. So many of the exact same failure and Chrysler is not stepping up to the plate. I had the dreaded shift motor failure a few years ago. It cost me $2000 to replace the transfer case as the shift motor was on permanent backorder. I've also had the AC fail multiple times. Chrysler never stepped up to plate to fix any of this even though many had experienced the same failures. I've spent over $3500 on dealer repairs in 116K miles. Some may say that's not bad for that kind of mileage, but I'm use to getting hundreds of thousands of miles out of cars without any failures. I just sold a Lexus SC400 with 334K miles and it has never had a failure or repair of any kind. It drove like the day I bought it when we sold it. No creaks or rattles or anything.

After reading through many of the posts in this thread, I've decided to sell our 04 hemi limited Durango hopefully before it fails. There's nothing wrong with it now, but I can tell it's just a ticking time bomb. I won't drive it again unless it's for sale activities like moving it to the driveway to wash and detail it or to meet a prospective buyer. I'm NEVER buying another Chrysler product again. Kbb private party is $7600. I'll be happy if I can get $5000 which is less than dealer tradein.

Same thing. I have an 04 Durango with a Hemi. The car has always had a sputtering problem after a rain or a carwash. I never put 2 and 2 together because it did not happen right away. Thought maybe I had bad gas. My car has 87k on it. My wife drove it day before yesterday no problem. I went to start it yesterday in the rain, I thought a cat had been under the car when I started it, all hell broke loose. I looked under the hood and found nothing. I looked it up on the internet and my jaw dropped at all of the identical issues. Mine would start and sound like someone beating on it with a hammer, now just smoke and wont start. Unbelievable.

My 2004 durango wouldn't start at first I thought battery or starter, I waited a few minutes tried it again, it started but then made a tick tick tick noise very annoying it has 94,0000 miles on it. Brought it to the dealership they said its an internal engine problem they can replace the engine new for $,7,000.00 or a used one for $4,000.00 . I said I have never owned a vehicle and the engine went. I said do you know why the engine would go, the dealership replied they dont know why it happened.

I have a 2004 Durango with the 5.7 hemi with 72,000 miles on it. My wife started it the other day and even though a rod did not conme out of the block I can just tell that something bad happened inside the engine. I'm going to pull it out in the next couple of weeks so I'll post again after I know for sure what happened to .it.

We just bought out 2004 Durango with 5.7 Hemi less than 5 months ago, it had the same problem, misfiring in the rain and then with no warning threw a rod this morning. The dealership we got it from is only will to pay for half the repair, which I can't afford regardless. So now I have no car with a year and a half left of $500 per month payments. Then I see all these other complaints. Not only should Dodge do something, but anyone who sells used cars should be ashamed of themselves for sell cars with well known engine failure. What we need is a Class Action suit, I'll be looking into it.

This also happened to our 2005 dodge magnum RT hemi. no warning on the dash. No codes in the system. We purchased the car new from the dealer .we have done all the scheduled maintaine. With only 63,000 miles .needless to say a very big disappointment. now the engine is seized.
I am thankful this happen on the way home from work, and not on my way to Havasu.
Doing a little looking around on the internet .this appears to an issue with the 5.7.

I got the engine out (what a job) took it to our local machine shop and received a call today with the news. Bent connecting rod in #7 cylinder. Hydro-lock. The engine is in great shape except for that. Oh well it looks as though everything that I have read about is true. I am going to get it rebuilt and I'll post with the results when complete.

I see I'm in the same boat as a lot of people. I just recently blew the engine in my 04 Durango with no warning or anything and owe too much on it to just sell so have to get a new engine. It threw a rod through the driver side engine block. I'm looking for an engine and they aren't cheap. Does anyone have any idea where to find a good remanufactured one if possible? Dodge really needs to get a grip on not selling junk and own up to their mistakes.

This is a duplicate post so I'll address it here as well. My opinion is that you should first find a reputable installer who has already done a number of crate engines---he probably knows the best suppliers because he is just as interested as you are in having a hassle-free experience.

04 Durango Limited with a 5.7 Hemi and 115k miles. Has always run great (though that tick was a little disconcerting, dealer said it was normal for a hemi). Regular maintenance, not raced. It was the wife's car. She ran to the store Tuesday night, ran great as always. Went to go to work on Wednesday, started the car, and it sounded like a jackhammer.

I took it to the local tire/automotive store that I typically go to, they said it's internal, too much for them, take it to an engine shop. Based on above, I think I already know the problem. I don't have an extended warranty, never believed in them, until now..

It's in great shape, but I hate to put $5k into something work $6k.

Has anyone had any luck getting Chrysler to do anything out of warranty?

My only other thought would be to selling it out for parts, or donating it for the write-off.

Anyone have any other suggestions? Anyone know what a dodge dealer would offer on trade-in (just curious)?

I do know that even though we loved the durango, the replacement will NOT be a Chrysler product.

What is the overall condition of the Durango? If there is no corrosion, properly repaired your Durango will do everything that a brand new one would do, except come with an additional four more years of payments on top of the cost of repairing/replacing the engine.

The really troubling point for shops and techs is that when people so readily toss a car like this to the side why should they even bother to be equipped and experienced to do the repair? What's worse is that the majority of these failures are preventable with proper service but through the years the techs voices are drowned out by others who tell consumers what they want to hear and convince owners to increase the time and mileage between service intervals only to suffer failures like this. While you state it had regular service, the end result indicates that it was insufficient for the regular use that the vehicle experienced. We see things like this all of the time. Shops get painted as dishonest for trying to get people to take better care of their vehicles and the manufacturer gets the blame when something eventually goes wrong, when the real reason was insufficient service. The end result however is simply a vehicle scrapped and replaced with new way before it should have been and if you really think about it that's not an accident. No matter where you go for your next car, this same story is being repeated enough times with other makes that someone else will be getting a new Chrysler product and everyone wins, except the shop that could have repaired this for you.

Unfortunately, how many stories are on this thread alone, where others went ahead and replaced the engine, only to have the exact same thing happen again 6 months or so down the road? That's not an option for me. And while I understand the plight of the shop owner, it is not my responsibility to ensure he has work. It does make me sick to think of this vehicle as disposable, but not as sick as investing $5k to fix it, and have this happen again.

This was a daily driver, never off road, and only had 4wd engaged once a year during the snow. It received the manufacturers recommended service. If that's insufficient, then that too falls back on the manufacturer, as they should have recommended more.

well, add 1 more to the list as well. going 35 miles per GD hour and BOOM, metal clanking and oil EVERYWHERE. 137k. there's a hole in the bottom of the oil pan, and it's clearly been made from inside the pan, as all the metal is facing outwards as if it friggin' exploded from the inside or something. this is absolutely ridiculous I loved that truck so much. it isn't a huge hole but it's big enough to let every drop of oil leak out. just changed the oil not even 1500 miles ago, and ALWAYS pampered that motor. maybe didn't change it exactly at 3000 miles every time, but it NEVER went over 5000 miles without an oil change. if there is a lawsuit, I want it as well. this makes absolutely no sense. I can't believe this has happened to this many people, they need to pay for this.

When you changed the oil did you make sure that the products that you bought were approved to meet the Chrysler MS6395 N or MS6395Q specification? (API SM, SN and ILSAC GF4,GF5 did not meet the Chrysler spec)